THE PATTERN-POST.

Arrangements for an inland pattern-post, such as has been in existence for a short time between this country and France, for the conveyance of patterns, have just been made. The pattern-post is now in operation, and must prove beneficial to those engaged in mercantile pursuits.

(a) At present, parcels of patterns may be forwarded through the post, subject to the undermentioned regulations, at the following fixed rates, prepaid with stamps, viz.:—

and so on; threepence being charged for every additional four ounces.

(b) The pattern must not be of intrinsic value. All articles of a saleable nature, wearing apparel, medicine, &c. or anything which may have a value of its own and not necessarily a money value, are excluded by this rule.

(c) The patterns-packet must not contain any writing inside, except the address of the manufacturer or trademark, the numbers, or the prices of the articles sent.

(d) The patterns must be sent in covers open at the ends or sides, in the same way as book-packets, so as to admit of easy and thorough examination. Samples of seeds, drugs, and other things of that character, which cannot be sent in open covers, may be inclosed in bags of linen, paper, or other material, tied at the neck with string. If transparent bags are used, as in France, the articles may easily be seen; but even then the bags must not be tied so that they cannot easily be opened in their passage through the post.

(e) Articles such as the following are prohibited by this new post, and few of them can be sent even at the letter-rate of postage, viz. metal boxes, porcelain or china, fruit, vegetables, bunches of flowers, cuttings of plants, knives, scissors, needles, pins, pieces of watch or other machinery, sharp-pointed instruments, samples of metals or ores, samples in glass bottles, pieces of glass, acids, &c., copper or steel-engraving plates, or confectionary of all kinds. In almost all these cases, the contents of a letter-bag would be in danger of being damaged or spoiled.

MONEY-ORDERS.

(a) Inland money-orders are obtainable at any of the offices of the United Kingdom on payment of the following commission:—

The commission on money-orders made payable in any of the British Colonies where money-order business is transacted is four times the sum charged for inland orders, except at Gibraltar and Malta, where the commission is only three times the British rate.

(b) The amount of any one money-order cannot exceed 10l., nor less than 1d. No order is allowed to contain a fractional part of a penny.

(c) Applications for a money-order should always be made in writing. "Application Forms" are supplied gratuitously at all money-order offices. The surname, and, at least, the initial of one Christian name of both the person who sends the order, and the person to whom the money is to be paid, must always be given. The address of the remitter of the money should also be given. The following exceptions are allowed to the above rule:—

• (1) If the remitter or payee be a peer or bishop, his ordinary title is sufficient.
• (2) If a firm, the usual designation will suffice—if that designation consist of names of persons, and not of a company trading under a title.
• (3) Money-orders sent to the Privy Council may be issued payable to "The Privy Council Office."
• (4) When the remitter notifies that the order is to be paid through a bank, he may withhold the name of the person for whom it is intended if he chooses; or he may, if he wishes, substitute a designation instead of a person's name; as, for example, he may make an order payable, through a bank, to "The Cashier of the Bank of England," or "The Publisher of The Times."

(d) A money-order is always issued on the head office of any town where there are several money-order offices, except the persons sending it request that it should be made out for some other subordinate office.

(e) The sender of any money-order may make his order payable ten days after date, by simply signing a requisition at the foot of the order to that effect, and affixing a penny receipt-stamp to his signature.

(f) An order once made out cannot be cancelled by the officer issuing it under any circumstances. If the sender should require to transmit it to a different town than the one he first mentioned, or to a different name, he must apply to the issuing postmaster, and make the necessary application on the proper form which will be furnished to him. Directions on all these subjects are printed on the back of money-orders.

(g) When an order is presented for payment (not through a bank), the postmaster is required to see that the signature on the order is identical with the name to which he is advised to pay the money, and that the name be given as full in the one case as it is in the other. If this is so, the person presenting the order is required to state the name of the party sending it, and should the reply be correct, the order is paid, unless the postmaster shall have good reason for believing that the applicant is neither the rightful claimant, nor deputed by him. If presented through a bank, however, it is sufficient that the order be receipted by some name, and that (crossed with the name of the receiving bank) it be presented by some person known to be in the employment of the bank. The owner of a money-order is always at liberty to direct, by crossing it, that an order be paid through a bank, though the sender should not make it so payable. The ordinary questions are then dispensed with.

(h) Money-orders, when paid, do not require a receipt-stamp.

(i) Under no circumstance can payment of an order be made on the day on which it has been issued.

(j) After once paying a money-order, by whomsoever presented, the Post-Office is not liable to any further claim. Every endeavour, it is stated, will be made to pay the money to the proper party, or to some one believed to be delegated by the proper party.

(k) A money-order in the United Kingdom becomes lapsed, if it be not presented for payment before the end of the second calendar month after that in which it was issued (thus, if issued in January, it must be paid before the end of March). A second commission for a new order will then, after that time, be necessary. Six months are allowed in the colonies.

If the order be not paid before the end of the twelfth calendar month after that in which it was issued, all claim to the money is lost.[208]

(l) In case of the miscarriage or loss of an inland money-order, a duplicate is granted on a written application (enclosing the amount of a second commission and the requisite particulars) to the Controller of the Money-Order Office of England, Scotland, or Ireland (as the case may be), where the original order was issued. If it be desired to stop payment of an inland order, a similar application, with postage-stamps to the amount of a second commission, must be made to the controller of the money-order office in that part of the United Kingdom in which the order is payable. All mistakes made in money-orders can only be rectified in this manner by correspondence with the chief metropolitan office and by payment of a second commission. Whenever the mistake is attributable to the Post-Office, however, and a second commission is rendered necessary, the officer in fault is called upon to pay it.

Proper printed forms, moreover, are supplied for every case likely to arise, and full instructions are given on money-orders. In addition, however, to supplying the proper forms, the postmasters are required to give every necessary information on the subject of second or duplicate orders.

(m) No money-order business is transacted at any post-office on Sundays. On every lawful day, the time for issuing and paying money-orders is from ten till four at the chief offices in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, and from nine till six at provincial offices. On Saturday nights it is usual to allow two extra hours for this business.

POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.

We have already explained at some length the origin and ordinary working of these banks; the following résumé of the distinctive features of the new plan may therefore suffice:—

• (a) Nearly all the money-order offices in the United Kingdom are now open each working-day for the receipt and payment of savings-bank accounts.
• (b) Deposits of one shilling, or any number of shillings, will be received, provided the total amount of deposits in any one year does not exceed 30l., or the total amount standing in one name does not exceed, exclusive of interest, 150l.
• (c) Each depositor, on making the first payment, must give every necessary particular regarding himself, and sign a declaration. He will then receive a book (gratis) in which all entries of payments and withdrawals will be regularly made by an officer of the Post-Office.
• (d) Interest at the rate of 2l. 10s. per cent. is given on all money deposited.
• (e) Secrecy is observed with respect to the names of depositors in post-office banks, and the amounts of their deposits.
• (f) Depositors have direct Government security for the prompt repayment, with interest, of all their money.
• (g) Married women may deposit money in these banks, and money so deposited will be paid to the depositor, unless her husband give notice of marriage, in writing, and claim payment of the deposits.
• (h) Money may also be deposited by, or in behalf of, minors. Unlike some ordinary savings-bank, depositors over seven years of age are treated here as persons of full age, though minors under seven cannot withdraw, or have drawn, their deposits until they attain that age.
• (i) Charitable societies and penny-banks may deposit their funds in the Post-Office banks, but a copy of their rules must, in the first instance, be sent to the Postmaster-General. Special aid is given to penny-banks established in connexion with those of the Post-Office.
• (j) Friendly societies, duly certified by the Registrar of these societies, may also deposit their funds, without limitation or amount, under the same condition.
• (k) A depositor in an old savings-bank may have his money transferred to the Post-Office banks with the greatest ease. He has only to apply to the trustees of the old savings-bank for a certificate of transfer (in the form prescribed by the Act of Parliament regulating the transactions of these banks, viz. 24 Vict. cap. 14), and he can then offer the certificate to the Post-Office bank, and it will be received as if it were a cheque. Of course he can draw out from one bank and pay into the other in the usual way, but the transfer certificate will save him both trouble and risk.
• (l) A depositor in any one of the Post-Office savings-banks may continue his payments in any other bank at pleasure without notice or change of book. The same facilities of withdrawal, as we have previously shown, are also extended to him.
• (m) Additional information may be obtained at any post-office, or by application to the Controller, Savings-Bank Department, General Post-Office, London. All applications of this kind, or any letters on the business of the savings-banks, as well as the replies thereto, pass and repass free of postage.

MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS.

1. Petitions and addresses to Her Majesty, or to members of either House of Parliament, forwarded for presentation to either House, may be sent free, provided that they do not weigh more than two pounds, and are either without covers, or enclosed in covers open at the ends or sides. They must not contain any writing of the nature of a letter, and if, upon examination, anything of the kind be found, the packet is liable to be charged under the book-post arrangement.
2. Letters on the business of the Post-Office, relating to any of its numerous branches, may be forwarded to the head offices of London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, by the public, free of all postage. Letters for the different departments of the Government in London may be prepaid, or otherwise, at the option of the sender.
3. Letters addressed by the public to the district surveyors of the Post-Office, on postal business, may also be sent without postage, though all letters addressed to local postmasters should be prepaid by stamps.
4. It is absolutely forbidden that information respecting letters passing through the Post-Office should be given to any persons except those to whom such letters are addressed. Post-Office officials are strictly prohibited from making known official information of a private character, or, in fact, any information on the private affairs of any person which may be gathered from their correspondence.
5. Letters once posted cannot be returned to the writers under any pretence whatever—not even to alter the address, or even the name, on a letter. Further, postmasters have not the power to delay forwarding, according to the address, any letter, even though a request to that effect be made on the envelope, or to them personally, either orally or in writing. Each letter, put into the Post-Office, is forwarded, according to its address, by the first mail leaving the place, unless, indeed, it be posted "too late," when it is not forwarded till the next succeeding mail.
6. Each postmaster is required to display a notice in the most conspicuous position in his office, giving every necessary information respecting the time of despatch and receipt of mails, delivery of letters, hours of attendance, &c. &c.
7. On Sundays there is usually but one delivery of letters, viz. in the morning, and two hours are allowed during which the public may purchase postage-stamps, have letters registered, or pay foreign and colonial letters, &c.; but for the rest of the day all other duties, so far as the public are concerned, are wholly suspended. In the General Post-Office in London no attendance is given to the public. In all the towns of Scotland, and also in one or two towns in England, no delivery of letters takes place from door to door, but the public may have them by applying during the time fixed for attendance at the post-office.
8. In England and Ireland, where, as a rule, letters are delivered on Sunday mornings, arrangements are made under which any person may have his letters kept at the post-office till Monday morning by simply addressing a written request to the postmaster to that effect. Of course, all the correspondence for such applicant is kept, even supposing some of it should be marked "immediate;" and no distinction is allowed. Letters directed to be kept at the post-office in this way cannot be delivered from the post-office window, except in the case of holders of private boxes, who may either call for their letters or not, as they may think proper. Instructions sent to the postmasters of towns under this arrangement are binding for three months, nor can a request for a change be granted without a week's notice.
9. Any resident, in town or country, can have a private box at the post-office on payment of an appointed fee. That fee is generally fixed at a guinea per annum, payable in advance, and for a period of not less than a year. Private bags in addition are charged an extra sum.
10. "No postmaster is bound to give change, or is authorized to demand change; and when money is paid at a post-office, whether in change or otherwise, no question as to its right amount, goodness, or weight, can be entertained after it has left the counter."
11. Except in the case of foreign or colonial letters about to be prepaid in money, a postmaster or his clerks are not bound to weigh letters for the public, though they may do so provided their other duties will allow of it.
12. Postage-stamps or stamped envelopes (the latter to be had in packets or parts of packets, and charged at an uniform rate, viz. 2s. and 3d. for a packet of twenty-four envelopes) may be obtained at any post-office in the United Kingdom at any time during which the office is open—in most cases, from 7 or 7.30 A.M. till 10 P.M.
13. A licence to sell postage-stamps can be obtained, free of expense, by any respectable person, on application to the office of Inland Revenue, Somerset House, London, or (in the provinces) by application to the district stamp distributor.
14. Every rural messenger is authorized to sell stamps and embossed envelopes at the same price at which postmasters sell them; and when, in the country, the rural postman is applied to for these articles, he must either supply them, or (if he has none in his possession) must take letters with the postage in money, and carefully affix stamps to them when he arrives at the end of his journey.
15. Each postmaster is authorized to purchase postage-stamps from the public, if not soiled or otherwise damaged, at a fixed charge of 2½ per cent. Single stamps will not be received, but those offered must be presented in strips containing at least two stamps adhering to each other. This arrangement was fixed upon primarily in order to discourage the transmission of coin by post.
16. Letter-carriers and rural messengers are prohibited at any time from distributing letters, newspapers, &c., except such as have passed through the Post-Office. They are not allowed to receive any payment beyond the unpaid postage on letters or newspapers delivered.[209] Further, in delivering letters, they are not allowed to deviate from the route laid down for them by the proper authorities.
17. Persons living within the free delivery of any town cannot obtain their letters at the post-office window, unless they rent a private box, in which case they may apply for them as often as a mail arrives. In some cases where there are not frequent deliveries of letters, persons may apply at the post-office for their letters arriving by a particular mail after which there is not an immediate delivery from door to door.
18. Persons having a distinct residence in any town cannot have their letters addressed to the post-office (except a private box be taken), and a postmaster is warranted, when such letters arrive so addressed, to send them out by the first delivery. The "Poste Restante" is meant for commercial travellers, tourists, and persons without any settled residence. Letters so addressed are kept in the office for one month, after which, if they are not called for, they are returned to the writers through the Dead-Letter Office. "Ship-letters" in sea-port towns, or letters addressed to seamen on board ship expected to arrive at these towns, are kept three months before they are thus dealt with.
19. When any letters, &c. remain undelivered, owing to the residences of the persons to whom they are addressed not being known, a list of such addresses is shown in the window of the post-office to which they may have been sent, during the time (only one week in these cases) they are allowed to remain there.
20. Greenwich time is kept at the Post-Office.

LONDON DISTRICT POSTS.

1. The London district comprises all places within a circle of twelve miles from St. Martin's-le-Grand, including Cheshunt, Hampton, Hampton Court, Sunbury, and the post towns of Barnet, Waltham Cross, Romford, Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, and Hounslow.
2. There are ten postal districts, each of which is treated in many respects as a separate post town. The names of the districts are as follows, the initial letter or letters of the name forming the necessary abbreviation to each, viz.:—East Central, West Central, Western, South-Western, North-Western, Northern, North-Eastern, Eastern, South-Eastern, and Southern.
3. The portion of each district within three miles of the General Post-Office is designated the Town Delivery. Within the town limits there are eleven deliveries of letters daily, the first or principal commencing at 7.30 and generally concluded by 9 A.M.; the last delivery commences at 7.45 P.M.; there being something like hourly deliveries within the interval. Each town delivery occupies on an average forty-five minutes. There are seven despatches daily to the suburban districts.
4. As a general rule, the number of despatches from the suburban districts is the same as the number of deliveries.
5. Information relative to the time of delivery and the time for each despatch to the head office, and also from thence to the provinces, is afforded at each town and suburban receiving-house. At each of these houses, several hundreds in number, stamps are sold, letters are registered, and separate boxes are provided for "London District" and "General Post" letters.

   THE "POSTE RESTANTE" AT THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.

6. The "Poste Restante" arrangements for London are somewhat different to those in the provinces; but like the latter they are meant to provide for strangers and travellers who have no permanent abode in London,—residents in London not being allowed the privilege.
7. Letters addressed to "initials" cannot be received; if so addressed they are returned to their writers through the Returned Letter-Office.
8. Letters addressed "Post-Office, London," or "Poste Restante," are delivered only at the Poste Restante Office, on the south side of the hall of the General Post-Office, between the hours of 9 A.M. and 5 P.M.
9. All persons applying for letters at the Poste Restante must be prepared to give the necessary particulars to the clerk on duty, in order to prevent mistakes, and to insure the delivery of the letters to the persons to whom they properly belong. If the applicant be a subject of the United Kingdom (and subjects of states not issuing passports are regarded as British subjects), he must be able to state from what place or district he expects letters, and produce some proof of identification; and if he sends for his letters the messenger must be supplied with this information, as well as show a written authority to receive them. If the applicant be a foreigner, he must produce his passport; or should he send for his letters, the messenger must take it with him.

APPENDIX (C).
INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENTS IN THE POST-OFFICE SERVICE.

All candidates for appointment in the Post-Office, whether to places in the gift of the Postmaster-General, or to those in provincial towns in the gift of the respective postmasters, must pass the stipulated examination prescribed by Government, and which is conducted under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners in London.

1. Candidates for clerkships in the Secretary's Office, London, must pass an examination on the following subjects, viz.[210]:—
   1. Exercise designed to test handwriting and composition.
   2. Arithmetic (higher branches, including vulgar and decimal fractions).
   3. Precis.
   4. A Continental language, French or German, &c.[211]
2. Candidates for general clerkships in the Metropolitan Offices are examined in[210]—
   1. Writing from dictation.
   2. Exercise to test orthography and composition.
   3. Arithmetic (higher rules).
3. Candidates for the place of letter-carrier, &c.
   1. Writing from dictation.
   2. Reading manuscript.
   3. Arithmetic (elementary).
   All officers nominated to places in provincial offices must be examined by the postmaster, under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners, the examination-papers to be in all cases submitted to the Commissioners for inspection and judgment.
4. For clerks, the examination consists in
   1. Exercises designed to test handwriting and orthography.
   2. Arithmetic.
5. For sorters, letter-carriers, and stampers:—
   1. Writing from dictation.
   2. Reading manuscript.
   3. Arithmetic (of an easy kind).
6. For messengers:—
   1. Writing their names and addresses.
   2. Reading the addresses of letters.
   3. Adding a few figures together.

No person under sixteen years of age is eligible for any situation in the Post-Office.

Candidates for clerkships in London must be under twenty-four years of age but not under seventeen. The stipulated age in the country is from seventeen to twenty-eight.

No one is eligible for an appointment who has been dismissed the Civil Service.

No one is eligible who is connected, directly or indirectly, with the management of an inn or public-house.

Sorters, stampers, or railway messengers must not be under 5ft. 3in. high in their stockings.

All officers appointed to the London Office must pass a medical examination before the medical officer of the Department. A special examination after probation is required from those appointed to the travelling post-offices. In the country, candidates must provide a medical certificate to the effect that they enjoy good health.

Sorters and letter-carriers may be promoted to clerkships.

Persons of either sex are eligible for appointment in provincial offices.

Letter-carriers are provided with uniforms.

Post-office officials are assisted, at the rate of about 20 per cent. in payment of premiums for life assurance. They are also entitled to superannuation allowance, according to their length of service. Clerks in the General Post-Office are allowed a month's, and sorters, letter-carriers, &c., a fortnight's, leave of absence each year.

Clerks, sorters, &c. in the provinces are allowed leave of absence for a fortnight in each year.

Postmasters in the country and officers in the General Post-Offices must give security to the Postmaster-General for the faithful discharge of their duties, in amounts calculated according to the responsible nature of the appointment. A guarantee office[212] or two sureties are taken.

The clerks, &c. in the country offices are required to give security in the same manner to the postmasters who may have appointed them.

After the preliminary examinations have been passed successfully, each new officer, before commencing duty, is required to make a declaration before a magistrate, to the effect that he will not open, or delay, or cause or suffer to be delayed, any letter or packet to which he may have access. He is then put on probation for a term of six months, after which period, if able to perform all the duties required of him, he receives a permanent appointment.

Promotion from class to class in the Post-Office is now, as a rule, regulated by seniority of service—a much more satisfactory arrangement to the whole body of officers than the system of promotion by merit which it has just superseded.

Heads of departments, postmasters, and all other officers employed in the Post-Office, are prohibited by law, under heavy penalties, from voting or interfering in elections for members of parliament.

No officer of the Post-Office can be compelled to serve as mayor, sheriff, common councilman, or in any public office, either corporate or parochial; nor can he be compelled to serve as a juror or in the militia.

APPENDIX (D).

APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICE IN LONDON. (Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5.)

In all cases marked thus * the present holders of office, or some of them, receive additional allowances, either on account of length of service, compensation, as paid on some previous scale of salary, or for extra work.

The surveyors have travelling allowances at the rate of 20s. per diem; surveyors' clerks, 15s. per diem; clerks in charge, 10s. and 7s. per diem. The whole are also allowed actual expenses of locomotion.

PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICES OF DUBLIN AND EDINBURGH.

(Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5.)

APPOINTMENTS, WITH SALARIES, OF THE FIVE PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

(Extracted from the Estimates of 1864-5.)

INFORMATION RESPECTING OTHER PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL POST OFFICES.